Military Sea Hawkers

The military chapter of the official booster club of the Seattle Seahawks

2012 NFL Draft: Is Trading the 12th Pick Good Strategy or Bad Karma for the Seahawks?

With the 2012 NFL Draft getting underway Thursday, draft analysts have predicted, strategized and completed scenario planning for the first round of the draft with a seemingly similar, but not-at-all comparable, approach as SEAL Team 6’s preparations for storming Osama bin Laden’s compound.

For the Seahawks, Coach Pete Carroll and General Manager John Schneider have made it fairly clear their interest lies with improving the pass rush, and drafting a defensive end or linebacker appears to be the conventional wisdom. Although there is a desire to improve the rush, the team finds itself in a position this year they haven’t been accustomed to since their new management arrived in town.

They really don’t have any glaring needs.

By picking up quarterback Matt Flynn, defensive end Jason Jones and veteran linebacker Barrett Ruud in free agency, the Seahawks have put themselves such a position that many fans have taken a strong interest in trading away the 12 slot to accumulate a few extra draft picks.

Carroll and Schneider have proven themselves capable of finding some great NFL talent in the draft, so getting extra picks naturally seems like a great strategy. If your coach and GM can get first round talent like Richard Sherman and Doug Baldwin in the late rounds of the draft or even post-draft in Baldwin’s case–why not trade down?

I don’t tend to be a superstitious person, but Seattle can’t trade away their pick—not this year. What are the chances the stars align in a way for a team that so prominently highlights the 12th Man also gets the 12thpick in the 2012 NFL Draft?

It’s just too coincidental for me to support the idea of trading back a few picks, and knowing that in a few years we’re going to be looking back at who was taken at the spot we traded away. If that player is Pro Bowl caliber or is simply better than whoever Seattle had ultimately selected, fans will be furious at the idea of trading out of that spot.

Another reason to not trade down is the team is assured they will get the talent they want. There is going to be a number of talented players at that spot and even though casual fans may not recognize names beyond Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III, one can bet that Carroll and Schneider have more than a handful of players in mind depending on how things play out in the draft’s first hour.

While I’m not necessarily advocating that the Seahawks select a quarterback or wide receiver and unretire the number 12 jersey to turn their trifecta of good karma into a superfecta, I do want whoever Seattle picks to be considered worthy of a yellow blazer 12 years from now. That’s not asking too much, is it?